When Lightning Strikes
by mepariseau
Summary: This takes place in the same AU as my LuRe story "What Really Happened". If you have been reading "What Really Happened", then you know some of what is going on in Casey's world. This is Casey's story.


**_This takes place in the same AU as my LuRe story "What Really Happened". If you have been reading that story then you know some of what is going on in Casey's world. Now here is the beginning of his story. I hope you enjoy both stories. _**

**Chapter One – When Lighting Strikes**

Casey Hughes was at Memorial Hospital when he saw his best friend Luke Snyder brought into the ER. Luke's blonde hair was now red. It looked like someone took a can of red paint and poured it on top of his head. Casey ran after the gurney, but was stopped from entering the room by Dr. Susan Stewart.

"Casey, I need you to call Lily and Holden. Let them know Luke is here. Right now I need to check on him and see how bad it is." Susan then left Casey alone in the hallway. From outside the room, he saw Luke being hooked up to all kinds of monitors and watched as Dr. Stewart went to work on Luke.

"Casey! Is Luke in there? Is he alright?" Noah came running down the hall. When he made it to Luke's room, Casey could see that Noah's eyes were red and watery.

"I don't know yet. Allison's mother is in there now with him. She asked me to call his parents, but what do I say. Ms Walsh, this is Casey Hughes. Luke's been in an accident and is at Memorial Hospital. She would freak out if I said that. And Luke's dad wouldn't be much better."

"I'll call them. It's the least I can do, since he fell down the stairs outside of my apartment." Noah sounded pretty down, but Casey put that off to just being upset over Luke. Plus it hadn't been all that long since Luke and Noah had broken up.

"Dude, are you sure?"

"Yeah, Case. Just wait here. You can give me an update if Dr Stewart comes out." Noah walked down the hallway before pulling out his cell.

Casey was alone again. His parents and grandparents were in another wing of the hospital, waiting on news about his uncle Chris. Chris needed a heart transplant and a heart had been found, but the Bay City Hospital was trying to keep that heart for a patient of theirs. Luke had been over there with his boyfriend Dr. Reid Oliver, giving his support to the Hughes family and also to Katie Snyder, Chris's girlfriend. Casey wasn't sure when Luke had left, but it couldn't have been all that long ago. It then hit Casey that Reid Oliver didn't know that Luke had been hurt. He picked up one of the hospital phones to call his aunt. It would be better if Reid heard the news from Katie then anyone else.

"Aunt Katie, is Reid still there with you?

Katie looked around the waiting room, but did not see Reid anywhere. "No, he's not. He and Luke must have stepped out for a minute. Where did you go?"

"I'm down in the ER. It's Luke …. um … he's not with Reid. He was in an accident and it doesn't look good."

'What? OMG, this can't be happening. First Chris, and now Luke. I've got find Reid." Casey heard a click and realized that Katie just hung up on him. He really couldn't blame her, with her being worried about her boyfriend, Chris and now getting the news about Luke. Casey didn't know how much more he could take either. It had been a rough week. First he got re-engaged to Allison Stewart, but before they could tell anyone, he found out that his great grandmother had died. He wasn't normally superstitious, but that had brought doubts that the engagement was good idea. Maybe he and Allison really should only be friends. Then came the news that his uncle Chris was sick and needed a transplant. Now his best friend had been in an accident and it looked bad. What was he to do? Well he didn't have much time to think about it, before Katie, Reid and Noah were there with him.

"I'm going in there."

"Reid, wait. Susan's a good doctor. Let her do her job."

"She's an idiot. If she was competent, then we would already know what was wrong with Luke. Luke needs me." Katie, put her arms around Reid to stop him.

"Reid, what Luke needs is for you to stay calm. If you go in there all upset you won't do him any good."

"I can't loose him Katie. If anything happens to him, I don't know what I'll do." Reid just noticed that Noah was there and he lashed out at him. "Why are you here, Mayer?"

"He came to see me and after he left I found him at the bottom of the stairs outside my apartment. He was unconscious and bleeding. I called 911 and followed him here." Noah was barely holding it together.

"What did you do, push him? I know you hate me, but to hurt Luke because he fell in love with me …"

"Reid, don't be ridiculous. Noah wouldn't deliberately hurt Luke. You should be thanking Noah for finding Luke, not accusing him of hurting him." Katie said.

"But it was my fault …" Noah began before Katie interrupted him.

"Just because he was visiting you, doesn't make it your fault, Noah."

"Of course it does. All Mayer has ever done was to hurt Luke. He blamed his blindness on Luke. I watched him push Luke away, time after time. Luke bent over backwards for him, but all Mayer did was get angry that Luke wanted to help. He even went so far as to break up with Luke just because I did not want Luke around when I examined him."

"Now wait a minute, you told me that you wouldn't treat me, if I didn't break up with Luke."

"No, I said that I did not want Luke around at your appointments. I was already attracted to him, even after he had blackmail me to come here and treat you, but I have never gone after someone's boyfriend. All I was doing was protecting myself so that I wouldn't have to be around someone that I couldn't have. You just used that as an excuse to break up with Luke, because you were looking for one. You did not want him, but you didn't want him with anyone else either."

"Stop! Luke is in there with who knows what kind of injuries and you two can't even get along for 5 minutes. How can either one of you say that you love him?" Casey lost it and yelled at Reid and Noah. They were so shocked that both of them just stood there not saying a word. Katie took Reid's hand and pulled him over a chair not far away. Casey could tell she was talking to him, but he could not make out what she was saying.

"Did you get a hold of Luke's parents?"

"What? Oh yeah. I talked to Holden and he was going to go over to Lily's to tell her in person. They should be here soon. I even tried to call Alex Thorne, but all I kept getting was voice mail."

"Alex must be at the bar. He never has any signal when he is there. Luke has told him countless times that he needs to get a new phone. I guess I will have to go find him in person."

Casey saw Dr. Susan Stewart come out of Luke's room and look around to see who was there for Luke. She started walking over to her colleague Dr. Reid Oliver. Casey had seen the look on her face and it did not look like the news was going to be very good. He grabbed Noah and pulled him along.

"I'm sorry Reid, but it doesn't look good for Luke. He is still unconscious and has head trauma in multiple places. There is a large cut along the top of his head that caused him to loose a lot of blood. I got that cleaned up and stitched. But from the scans, he is bleeding into his brain and the pressure is building. He is going to need surgery to relieve the pressure and I don't need to tell you how risky that surgery is. He has a couple of broken ribs, and this is where he got real lucky. One rib came very close to puncturing his lung and another one his heart. He will also need surgery to fix those breaks."

"I'll do the surgery. Let me see the scans and then I'll go scrub in."

"Luke's your boyfriend. That's the same as a family member, and it's against hospital policy to operate on a family member."

"Right, he's my boyfriend, not my husband. Therefore, he is not a family member. I will operate."

"No, Dr. Oliver, you will not. Dr. Stewart is correct. When you and Luke moved in together, he became a family member. Luke needs someone that is not distracted by their feelings for him. I will let you observe, but you can't do the surgery." Dr. Bob Hughes, the current Chief of Staff, joined the conversation about Luke.

"What Luke needs is the best neurosurgeon and there is no one better then I am in the world. If you don't let me operate and Luke dies, I will take both you and this hospital down. And besides, you owe me for getting that heart for Chris."

"Reid, what if something goes wrong in there? You could panic because of your love for Luke, and then will Luke be?"

"Bob, you know me better than that. Trust me, I can do it." Reid looked like he was not going to back down. His stance and attitude said that he was doing the surgery no matter what anyone else thought.

"Alright, you can do the surgery. But only on the condition that both Lily and Holden agree to it."

Casey pulled Noah aside. "I'm going to go find Alex and let him know what is going on. Call me if Luke's condition changes."

"Sure. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Try not to get caught up in how you are feeling and help Luke's parents when they get here."

* * *

Casey pulled into the parking lot of the bar "Eden" and saw Alex's car. Well at least he didn't have to go searching all over Oakdale for him. He only had to pull him away from what ever guy he was with today. Alex never dated anyone for long. He didn't believe in relationships.

Casey walked into the bar and it didn't take long to find Alex. Casey couldn't have been more surprised to see that the dark haired man was sitting alone at the far end of the bar. Casey made his way over and sat down next to Alex. "What does a guy have to do to get a drink around here?"

Alex looked up in surprise at hearing Casey's voice. "You do know that you are in a gay bar?"

"Dude, the big rainbow flag over the bar might have given it away. You weren't answering your phone and I needed to find you. So this was the first place I thought you might be. Of course I didn't expect you to be alone."

"You needed me? You say the nicest things." Alex winked at Casey.

"Dude, I don't have time for your flirting today. Luke was in an accident and is in the hospital."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. You know that policy about doctors not operating on family members, well Luke is bad enough that that my grandfather just gave Reid permission to operate on him."

"Damn, let's go…. Great … Jason is coming over here. He still hasn't got it that I don't want to see him anymore."

"I've an idea. Just play along." Casey draped an arm around Alex and leaned closer to him. "Is he almost here?"

"He's right behind you and is shooting daggers at your back." Alex whispered back.

"Babe, don't you think it is time to go home. I just got back in town and you know how I get when I've been away for a while." Casey tried to speak just loud enough that Jason could hear, but not too loud to make it look like he wanted to be overheard.

"I love our all-nighters. That makes the time apart bearable." When Alex pulled Casey closer so that he was straddling Alex's leg, Casey felt himself starting to get hard. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but one day not so long ago Alexander Thorne was just his friend, and then the next Casey realized that he was attracted to Alex. It surprised him, since being around Luke all these years, he had never once thought of Luke or any of his friends that way, but with Alex it was different. Casey felt the light touch of Alex's fingers run down his arm and his lips touching his neck. And as he felt himself getting harder, he couldn't help but feel that he was having the same affect on Alex. Well, if he was going to make this look good for that Jason guy then he might as well go all out. Casey breathed in through his nose and took in Alex's scent. That turned him on more then anything else he had ever smelled. His lips touched Alex's neck and nibbled a little. He felt Alex catch his breath at that and knew that he liked it. He gave another nibble and then moved so that he could kiss Alex. He looked into Alex's eyes and let his own ask permission. Alex's eyes glanced down to Casey's mouth and he licked his lips. That was all the permission that Casey needed to kiss the man in front of him. As soon their lips touched, Casey felt like lightning had stuck him.

"Who's the bloke, Alex?" Jason chose that moment to finally speak. Casey tore himself away from Alex and turned around to look Jason. He looked at Jason from head to toe and then turned back to Alex.

"Babe, is this the guy you have been sleeping with while I have been gone?"

"Yeah it is. I broke it off with him a few days ago, when I knew you were coming home."

Casey turned back around and looked directly at Jason. "I am Alex's husband and I am taking him home with me. Do you have a problem with that?" Jason and Alex both were speechless at that remark. Casey took Alex's hand and walked out of Eden with him. By the time they made it to Alex's car he had found his voice.

"Hey, that was some show we put on." Alex was smiling and laughing. "Did you see the look on Jason's face you said that you were my husband? That was priceless. Oh, don't look now but Jason just stepped out the door and is watching us. Kiss me again and then slap my ass when I turn to get the car. That should finish off any doubt that he has about us." Casey was glad for another excuse to kiss the green eyed man. Alex leaned back against his car door and Casey pressed up against him and gave Alex a deep long kiss. They were both breathing hard by the time they were though. And when Alex turned to open his door, Casey not only slapped his ass, but leaned into him and said "I'll see you at the hospital." Casey kissed him on the back of the neck before going to his car.

As Casey drove back to Memorial, he wondered what had come over him. There were other ways that he could have got rid of Jason, so why did he choose the one that he did? And now how should he act around Alex. Like it didn't happen or that it was just another of their long list of jokes that they have played together. Either way, he felt that it was going to be awkward for a while. You don't just make out with a friend and then act like nothing is different. Casey thought he had come to terms with his attraction to Alex, but that was before kissing him at the bar. The electricity that he felt must have been because it was the first time he had ever kissed a guy. By the time Casey walked into Memorial, he had convinced himself that what he felt when he kissed Alex was no big deal and that he still loved Allison.

Casey saw Holden holding Lily, Henry holding Katie, Tom holding Margo, Bob holding Kim, Lucinda talking to Emma and Noah was sitting alone away from everyone else. Chris and Luke both must still be in surgery and since both families had ties to each other, they were waiting to hear the news together.

Casey sat down beside Noah. "Has there been any news?"

"Alison came out a few minutes ago and said that Chris was doing well. She had not heard about Luke until we asked her if she knew anything."

Alex sat on the other side of Noah and took his hand. He looked into Casey's eyes as he asked "How are you holding up?"

"Not very well. The person that I hate more then anyone else has Luke's life in his hands. I was so scared that he was dead when I saw him at the bottom of the stairs. It was my fault that he was hurt. If he hadn't have come to see me, then he wouldn't be hurt. I still love him, Alex." Alex pulled Noah into a hug and just let him cry.

A few minutes later, Reid entered the waiting room and walked up to Lily and Holden.

"The other surgical team repaired Luke's ribs. I was able to stop the bleeding and relieve some of the pressure. But the bleeding was bad and all the signs are pointing to him being in a coma. I wish I had better news, but I don't."

"I thought you were the great Dr. Reid Oliver, who could do no wrong. If you are so great then how could Luke be in a coma? If you loved him like you say you do, then he would be alright. You, Dr. Oliver are a fraud and now everyone knows it. Why don't you just crawl back to Dallas and leave Luke with the people that really love him?" Noah yelled at Reid.

"Are you done?" After a short pause Red continued. "You must have taken lessons from Luke. You gave a very good impression of a drama queen. I do love Luke and for your information if any other doctor had tried to do that surgery, then Luke would be dead right now. The bleeding was worse then the scans showed and I got in there just in time. With the amount of pressure that had built up, it is not surprising that he is in a coma. Now all we can do is wait for him to come out of it. Luke needs to be surrounded by love. Can you put aside your animosity towards me and stand vigil with me over Luke? Our mutual love for Luke might just be what he needs to wake up."

"Oh, well … if will help Luke then yes."

"I've seen Reid do that with Luke, but would never have believed that it would work on HW." Casey about jumped out of his skin, when he heard Alex's voice whisper in his ear. Casey had not heard him move over into the seat that Noah had been occupying before he had gone over to Reid. "Hey I did not mean to startle you. I was just trying to be quiet so as to not interrupt them. You want to go talk somewhere else?"

"What do we need to talk about?" Casey decided to pretend that nothing had happened at the bar.

"Jason, the kiss or should I say kisses. Does that ring a bell?"

"It was the fastest way to get you out of there. I've seen first hand, that they guys you go out with don't like giving you up and usually only leave you alone after they see you with someone else."

"I wonder why … could it be because I am great in bed? Maybe you would like to find out? I could feel you standing at attention and I know you had to have felt that I was too." Alex continued to whisper in his ear. The intimate feeling of Alex's warm breath, gave Casey goose bumps and the thought of being alone with Alex, was beginning to have an effect on him below the waist for the second time today.

"It was just the excitement of playing a joke on that kid and getting him to believe that we were a couple. It meant nothing. Besides you know I love Allison and that we are planning to get married."

"Can't blame a guy for trying … but if you ever change your mind, my door will always be open for my 'husband'." Casey tried to ignore how hearing Alex call him his husband made him feel. And before he could think of a witty comeback, Allison and Dr. John Dixon were there.

"The transplant was a success. Chris is in recovery and is doing well. He should be back in his own room within the hour and you can all visit him them."

Casey went up to Allison, picked her up and spun her around in a big hug. When he put her down and kissed her he tried not think of how different the kiss felt or how much it lacked in electricity. However he couldn't resist looking at Alex and he saw that Alex was looking back at him.

**Please review and tell me what you think. **


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